So, I'm 18... and I drive a 240D daily and I love the car unlike most others my age... but my 2 front dash speakers are shot, and the rears are on their way out and i have an apline am/fm cass head unit that im going to guess was done in the mid 80's? its the pre removable faceplate idea w/ the button that pops out a handle to remove the whole thing. im on a budget and i want to be able to put something in myself *dads an electrical engineer* but i was wondering what other people have done.
i need something new. fast.
thanks!
Matt

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Matthew McIvor

2016 E350 4Matic Black/Black
2007 GL450 4Matic with Off-Road Pkg Silver/Black
1995 E300 Diesel White/Gray
1994 S600 Euro Black/ Black Velour
1986 560SL Blue/Blue/Gray
1986 190E Blue/Blue 93k

Depends on your budget. For starters, a new head unit. Then look at maybe adding an amp to power your stock speakers. I can't remember what the rear shelf of a W123 holds, but with my 1977 280E, there was room to cut out bigger speakers on that shelf, say 6x9. You could always go that route, and depending on your tastes, that may or may not provide enough bass without going the sub route.

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

I just installed a new system in my car. I used a JVC KD-HDR1 head unit with an iPod adapter. It looks good in a 123 IMO. If you can find MB Quart 4" speakers, they will fit under the speaker covers in the dash. I've also read that Rainbow offers direct replacement speakers with the same connectors that are in the MBs but they are pricey. I used 4" Boston Acoustic coaxial speakers and I needed to modify the speaker covers to allow room for the tweeters.

Also, do a search on "fader" to find the info on re-wiring the fader out of the system. If you do that, you can use the current wiring in the car. Otherwise, I would suggest you run all new wires for the system. That's what I did.

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Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

I just put a blaupunkt (san diego) head unit in my 81 240D, 5.25" infiniti speakers in the back deck and 4" infiniti's in the dash. All was shipped to my door from Crutchfield for about $200.

I had to do some minor modifying to the 4" speakers....the speakers have this huge plastic thing covering the tweeter up and I just took it off (I wanted it to fit under the orignal grill). The deck speakers fit just fine...but I still. need to pick up a larger grill cover. I did run all new speaker wire and I bypassed the center fader.

Obviously, powering with an amp would be preferable and you can spend much, much more for better equipment. But for me? It works just fine on my limited budget.

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1981 240d - 135k - Arlene

What did you modify on your grills, Chad? Do the tweeter stick out too far, or what? I haven't looked at mine yet, but I was thinking the 300TD had 3 1/2" speakers in it.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I needed to use a dremel to cut off two of the mounting ears on the speaker and drilled 2 holes in the dash to accept the screw through the mounting clips. The the tweeter sits flush with the surface of the speaker cover, so I had to cut a hole in the cover to allow the tweeter to sit there. I am in the process of making a dome type tweeter cover to see if it will look ok. Other wise I'll just leave it as is. The holes aren't that noticeable but I want to make them look more finished.

3-1/2" speakers are a better fit, but I wanted better sound than what's offered by the selection of 3-1/2" speakers I saw.

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Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

Are you saying that the tweeter actually shows through the grill now?

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Yes. But it's black so it doesn't draw your attention as bad as it could. I will find a way to make it look good. I'll post a pic of it when I do.

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Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

Why yes, you silly goose, I think he is.

Not sure of the Boston Acoustics speaker.....but with my Infiniti (or is it Infinity? I always forget).....I was able to "snip" the strange, alien shaped plastic piece that covered my tweeter. I was a little apprehensive in cutting it off and who knows, I'm not an acoustics engineer...and I may have degraded my sound quality significantly.....but I wanted that freaking thing under the grill. To each his own.

I also had to cut off 1 of the mounting tabs and drill my own holes in the dash. It really wasn't as painful as it may sound.

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1981 240d - 135k - Arlene

I really did want to preserve the covers. It was painful to realize I needed to cut them and I couldn't return the speakers. I hope to come up with an acceptable solution. Otherwise, I'll buy new grills and speakers.

__________________
Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

I actually have a dash cover on mine, so I'm wondering if that might give me enough extra depth to have a two way speaker there without having to cut a hole in the grill. Thanks. I'd like to see a picture if you have a chance to post one.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

toss the stock paper cone speakers and buy some pioneers at wal mart.. anything is better than stock..

I know. I'm gonna as soon as I can.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

That's what I did, I don't think they were Pioneers, just generic WalMart. I had to cut one corner of the mounting plate off (use the original for a guide) and cut off one of the little legs from the speaker grille for everything to fit flush. If I recall, the connectors where all the speaker wires come together before the fader is slightly in front of and to the right of the gearshift.

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'83 240D (for sale)
'84 Harley FXRT
'85 300CD Turbo (Sold)
'85 500SEC (for sale)
'04 Dodge Dakota Quad
'06 Harley FLHTCI
'97 SL320

we just wired mine into the stock system for the time being... the rear speakers sit flush in the parcel shelf (with the accordion tubes removed.. but I need grills to fit now)